The invention relates to a strip magazine for SMD manipulators (SMD =Surface Mounted Device) including a manually operated strip advance and comprising the following known features. The magazine is composed of an elongate narrow plate body whose width in the narrow direction corresponds to the width of the magazine strip. The upper narrow side of the plate body is bordered by two guide bars whose upper edges are angled toward one another, leaving a upwardly open gap between them for the removal of components; and, together with the upper face of the plate body disposed therebelow, they form a guide path for the magazine strip. There are elements for lifting off the covering tape and for advancing the magazine strip disposed at the entrance side of the removal gap. At the exit side of the removal gap, the guide path changes to a reversal path which opens into a return path for the empty strip, with this return path being disposed in the lower region of the plate body.
Such strip magazines are known. They are used, in particular, with SMD manipulators which are intended for equipping small series of electronic circuits. They may serve as a supplement to known turntables equipped with a plurality of compartments for components supplied in bulk and removed from the compartments as required. Or, if they are provided in sufficient numbers, they may serve as the sole suppliers of the components in place of these turntables.
The prior art strip magazines have been satisfactory in principle. However, it is desirable to reduce their structural width and to simplify their operation, particularly in connection with the insertion of a new strip.